


Please Come Home for Christmas

by bearbaitbrook



Series: Bughead AU's [3]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Military, Angst with a Happy Ending, Christmas Eve, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Jughead's in the Air Force
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:01:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28583892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bearbaitbrook/pseuds/bearbaitbrook
Summary: It was Christmas Eve. Normally, Betty Cooper would be frantically rushing from one Christmas celebration to the next, surrounded by her friends and family, always the holliest and the jolliest, complete with ugly Christmas sweater and homemade cookies. She had always loved Christmas. There was something magical about the season - the snow, the tinsel, the time to cherish those she held most dear.But not this year. This year, it was almost more than Betty could bear to make her home festive. The tree was up, sparkling brightly in the corner, but there were no presents beneath it. There were no lights illuminating the small balcony of her Riverdale apartment, no stockings hung above the fireplace, waiting to be filled. A lone batch of Christmas cookies had been baked this year, packed up and shipped half a world away, a far cry from the perpetual smell of baking cookies that normally permeated the apartment. The thought of the looming Christmas holiday all but drove her to tears at the mere thought. All because of Jughead Jones.
Relationships: Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Series: Bughead AU's [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1973236
Comments: 5
Kudos: 41





	Please Come Home for Christmas

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I realize I'm behind the times, Christmas is over (as is my winter break :( ) but I wanted to get this posted before I forgot about it. I've had the worst case of writers block throughout the holidays (or maybe writer's laziness) and haven't been writing much, but I've been working slowly but surely on my WIPs. 
> 
> This one is dedicated to everyone who was without their loved ones this holiday season, whether it's because of Covid, military, or another reason. 
> 
> Please note: you would think that I would have a decent amount of knowledge about how the US military works, given that I grew up in a military town and lived about five minutes from a Base... but I am absolutely clueless. Any mistakes that I made in how military deployments occur are not meant to offend.

It was Christmas Eve. Normally, Betty Cooper would be frantically rushing from one Christmas celebration to the next, surrounded by her friends and family, always the holliest and the jolliest, complete with ugly Christmas sweater and homemade cookies. She had always loved Christmas. There was something magical about the season - the snow, the tinsel, the time to cherish those she held most dear.

Normally, on Black Friday, rather than congregating at shopping malls with the masses to feed the already over-stuffed pockets of America's mega-corporations, she would instead spend the day decorating her Christmas tree with ornaments collected from childhood and listening to Christmas music while she transformed her home into a veritable winter wonderland.

But not this year. This year, it was almost more than Betty could bear to make her home festive. The tree was up, sparkling brightly in the corner, but there were no presents beneath it. There were no lights illuminating the small balcony of her Riverdale apartment, no stockings hung above the fireplace, waiting to be filled. A lone batch of Christmas cookies had been baked this year, packed up and shipped half a world away, a far cry from the perpetual smell of baking cookies that normally permeated the apartment. The thought of the looming Christmas holiday all but drove her to tears at the mere thought. All because of Jughead Jones.

***

_ Betty Cooper and Jughead Jones had met as toddlers at Riverdale Little Learners Preschool. They were best friends right from the start, right from the moment that Jughead pushed Chuck Clayton for pulling on Betty's (even then) pristine ponytail. Betty returned the favor shortly after, stomping on Moose Mason's velco-Batman shoe clad foot when he dared to make fun of Jughead's beanie, the same one he wore throughout high school and into adulthood, then about three sizes too big. _

_ They were best friends all through elementary and middle school, until one day, in the fall of their sophomore year, Jughead climbed through Betty's window and kissed her with years of pent-up love - the "more than friends" kind. They had been together ever since.  _

_ Jughead had grown up on the wrong side of the tracks, only allowed into the Riverdale North School District because of a printing mistake on some paperwork that had never been corrected. But at the beginning of their junior year, Jughead's father, FP Jones, had been sentenced to prison time, leaving Jughead to a foster family that lived firmly in Riverdale South School District, forcing him to spend the last two years of his high school at a second rate school with more dropouts than graduations. A school change wasn't the only thing FP had bequeathed to his son, though. He also left Jughead in charge of the Southside Serpents, a mostly harmless motorcycle gang. _

_ Or, at least, it would have been harmless if not for Penny Peabody. At first, Jughead had been thrilled to be a part of the Serpents. Yes, there was some initial tension about it with Betty -she worried that it would put a target on his back from rival gangs and that Jughead would neglect his school work and their relationship - and, for a while, their relationship went through a tough patch, but eventually they worked through it, and in time, Betty began to see the Serpents for the family that they were rapidly becoming to Jughead. _

_ It would have been perfect, if it weren't for Penny. Penny had been a Serpent in their glory days and when she heard that FP's title of Serpent King had been left to his son, she saw her opportunity. She began selling drugs, covertly at first, but gradually more and more in the open, under the Serpent banner. Unfortunately for her, the police caught on fairly quickly, and she was arrested at the end of Jughead's senior year of high school. Unfortunately for Jughead, Penny snitched on him to the police, claiming that she was selling the drugs on Jughead's orders, and planting the evidence to make him seem guilty as sin. _

_ Jughead and Betty did everything they could to turn the tables and prove that he had nothing to do with Penny's scheme, but there was nothing they could do. Seeing as it was his first offence, the judge granted Jughead some leniency: he could either shape up by spending the next three to five years in state prison, or he could ship out with the US military. He joined the Air Force and was shipped off to basic training by the end of the week. _

_ Betty barely remembers that week before Jughead left for the first time. Most of that week was a fog. Just before Jughead boarded the bus, though, she remembered him taking off his well-worn beanie (he had grown into it in high school), placing it gently on her head. "We're partners. In life. In all of it. And I will always come back to you. Ok?" Then he had pulled her into his arms and held her so tightly that it was hard to breath, but she relished the feeling of his heartbeat beating loudly in her ear and his strong arms around her. _

Now, as she clutches his beanie to her chest, that's the feeling she would give anything to feel.

_ Betty had opted to stay close to home for college - her parents had a part time staff writer position open at the Riverdale Register, the newspaper that they owned, and she found that she could easily take classes at New York State University Riverdale while working for her parents. Jughead came home from basic and was stationed at a base just outside of Riverdale. They found a little apartment - a studio shoebox, and yes, it was cramped, but it was theirs, and life was good. _

_ She would never forget the feeling when he was shipped overseas in his first tour of duty. She had lived with her parents for two straight months, afraid to be alone with the terrifying thoughts that filled her head anytime she was left alone: what if he doesn't come back?  _

_ Captain Forsythe Pendleton Jones III did come back, though. He came back three times, in fact. Each time he left tore Betty apart. She never felt whole again until he was safely back, held tightly in her arms. _

_ He only had six months left of active duty when he was called to his fourth and final tour of duty. Betty's heart had sunk - she had privately hoped that his almost year long third tour would be his last - but it was not to be, and so she helped him pack his things, trying her best to hide her tears from him. Jughead always had a knack for seeing past her facade, though, and had held her tightly to his chest. _

_ "When I come back, I want to marry you," he whispered to her on that hot late August day. _

_ "What?" Betty asked, confused about what he was saying. _

_ It didn't take long to clear up her confusion. Jughead sank to one knee, a small ring box open in front of her. She had smiled, happy tears in her eyes, crying "Yes! Yes!" and pulled him into a series of eager, yearning kisses that soon led to much more. In their eagerness to be joined together as one, one final time before he shipped out, they didn't think about protection. _

***

That was the ring that still proudly encircled her finger as she sat curled on the couch, one of his flannels wrapped around her body (it no longer smelled like him, but sometimes she could imagine). 

It was Christmas Eve - it was snowing softly outside, the flakes floating to the ground in the dark, silent night. Normally, Betty found the snow peaceful as each flake worked together to cover the ground in a fresh, undisturbed blanket. She and Jughead had spent many a night wrapped together in a blanket burrito, watching the snow from their balcony, enjoying the peace and togetherness. Tonight, though, as she watched out the window, living room dark except for the lights on her Christmas tree, it just made her feel achingly lonely. Because tonight, it was just Betty, alone in a too quiet apartment - alone except for her growing stomach- the child she and Jughead had created on the same night he gave her his promise of forever.

They had been separated for three deployments prior to this one, but never before had Jughead been away over Christmas. He'd missed her birthday, his birthday, Thanksgiving, New Years, but never Christmas. To make matters worse, when they had last talked a few days ago,, he had informed her that he was being sent out on a mission early his time on Christmas Eve and wouldn't be able to contact her again for a few days. 

Betty always worried infinitely more when he was away on these missions - he'd been in tight spots before, and she knew that anything could happen - and she knew that she wouldn't be good company tonight. She was too anxious and sad for that. Not wanting to bring anyone around her down, Betty had elected for a quiet Christmas Eve in, instead of going to her cousin, Cheryl Blossom's Christmas Eve Extravaganza. She was starting to regret this choice now though - the silence in her apartment was starting to get to her - and she was debating whether it was too late to change from her sweats and flannel into a Cheryl Bombshell approved outfit and join the party as a distraction from her thoughts.

Before she could make up her mind a flurry of movement erupted from Betty's swollen stomach - the little kicks and pushes of the child - Jughead's child - that she carried within her. Her heart warmed for a moment at the reminder that, though she felt alone this Christmas, she wasn't alone, and never would be. Jughead had been ecstatic when Betty had told him about the baby. Every time they were able to video chat, he filled Betty in on baby names he had thought of, while she updated him on her doctor's appointments and how much their baby had grown since they last talked. She knew it was killing him to be away while their child was growing inside of her. It was killing her, too.

"I know, Bug," she whispered, stroking her stomach softly with a hand. "I miss him too." In that moment, she made up her mind. She would be staying home - her and the bump growing day by day, content to sit in and gaze upon the Christmas tree and the snow, despite the melancholy loneliness that had fallen over her.

Just then, she heard a key turning in her front door lock. She knew who it was - only two people, besides her, had a key to their apartment, and seeing as one of those people was currently thousands of miles away, there was only one person who it could possibly be. 

"Cheryl, I appreciate you coming by, but really, I'm fine!" Betty called from the couch, not bothering to look over. "I thought about coming to your party, I really did, but the Bug and I are perfectly happy here on the couch in leggings. The thought of making ourselves pretty for your party is honestly a little much."

"You're gorgeous enough already. You don't need to make yourself pretty," a voice replied. But it wasn't Cheryl's voice like Betty had anticipated. Instead it was decidedly deeper - a sound she had been missing for months, despite video calls that did little to stem the ache deep in her chest that she felt for him.

Her head whipped around, eyes searching the darkened doorway until they fell upon… "Jughead," she breathed, pushing herself off of the couch. He met her halfway across the floor and then she was in his arms, holding onto him as tightly as he held her, legs wrapped around his waist, and she didn't think she had felt this happy since she found out about the baby. Joyous tears stained her cheeks as she struggled to comprehend what on earth was happening. Maybe she'd fallen asleep and this was all a dream -that was all that it possibly could be, because he wasn't due home for another two months and...

"Shhh," his voice whispered in her ear before pressing a kiss to her forehead, perhaps sensing her brain going into overdrive. The space where his lips met her skin burned with a fiery intensity. "It's ok, Betts. Just breathe, baby. I'm home."

Betty slowly sat back, and her eyes met his watery, tear-filled blue ones. They searched his face, taking a mental inventory - jet black hair, shorter than he normally preferred it due to army regulations, a few moles on his cheeks that she used to like to trace with her fingers as they laid in bed together, and his eyes - oh God, his eyes that had been haunting her dreams - were so filled with love as they looked at her, Betty knew that this couldn't be a dream. Just to check, she let her fingers wander over his face, tracing the constellations created by freckles, easing her fingers over his lips before cupping his cheeks. He pressed a kiss into her palm, and her heart finally felt whole again. He was real, and he was here, with her.

"Jug? What? How?" She was shaking in shock and awe as she looked up at him, and she felt herself being pulled into his arms again. His heartbeat was strong and steady under her ear.

"Merry Christmas, Betts! How's this for a Christmas surprise?"

"But… you're not supposed to be home until February! How are you here?"

"I had a special Christmas gift to deliver," he replied with a smirk. He crossed to his duffle, which was laying a few feet away from the front door, and pulled a small box, wrapped with silver paper and topped with a bow from it. 

"Jug, I have everything I could ever want, right here." She ran a hand over her stomach tenderly while he returned to where she now sat on the couch. "All I've wished for this Christmas is for the Bug to grow happy and healthy, and for you to come home to me safely. You two are all I need."

Jughead sat down next to her and pulled her legs into his lap, and then pulled her closer still, engulfing her in his arms while his lips finally met hers for the first time in months. Betty whimpered at the feeling, both too much and not enough all at once, and she pulled at his body trying to pull him as close as possible - even an inch of space between them was one inch too many.

"I've missed you, Betts," he whispered against her lips as they pulled away to breath. At some point she had ended up straddling his lap, the Bug in between them, and she snuggled her head into his neck, breathing deeply.

"I've missed you too, Jug, so much. How long do I have you for?" She dreaded to hear the answer - as happy as she was that he was home, she knew it was only a matter of time before she had to say her goodbyes so he could finish his tour.

"How does forever sound?"

Betty could have sworn that she misheard.

"Forever?" she repeated. "As in…"

"As in, I'm home for good, Betts. As soon as I found out about the Bug," he ran his hand over Betty's belly and was rewarded with a faint kick. Betty wouldn't have been sure that he had felt it, if not for the look of amazement and wonder that crossed his face. "As soon as I found out about the Bug, I've been trying to find a way to get home early. I finally found a loophole in my contract, and now I'm done. No more being shipped off, no more need for you to worry about me. I'm home for good, and I'm yours for as long as you'll have me."

"Oh my God, Jug!" she squealed, throwing herself towards him again, arms tightly around his neck. A flurry of tiny kicks against her stomach told her that the baby was just as excited as she was. "You're really home, for good? No more deployments?"

"No more deployments."

"Best Christmas ever," Betty declared. "All I wanted this year was for you to come home for Christmas, but I never in a million years thought that it would actually happen!"

"There was no way I was spending Christmas away from you and the Bug," Jughead assured her. "Besides, I had a gift to deliver."

He handed her the package again, and she untied the bow, a curious look on her face. It was a small box, and hardly weighed anything. Jughead watched her nervously. "It's ok if you don't like it, I just thought…" he trailed off as she pulled the lid off.

"Oh, Juggy," she sighed, tears filling her eyes. It was a charcoal colored beanie, almost identical to his, but in the miniature, the perfect size for the child that would grace them with their presence in a few short months. "She's so lucky to have you as a daddy."

Jughead froze. "She?" A smile lit up his face.

Betty nodded, putting the beanie down beside her. "She. I couldn't wait any more. I'm sorry, I know we said that we would wait, but…"

"Best Christmas present ever, Betts," he breathed. Leaning over, he planted a soft kiss onto Betty's lips, and then inched his way down her body, doing the same to her stomach. "I love you. Both of you." There was a shift in his eyes, and he smirked up at Betty. "But now, the baby is going to have to close her eyes."

"Oh, really? And why is that?"

"Because I plan on very thoroughly showing her mommy just how much I missed her." And with that, Jughead scooped Betty up in his arms and held her close, whisking her off to their bedroom.

Later that night, Cheryl used her spare key privileges to sneak in and check on Betty. She had expected to find her asleep on the couch. Instead, she was greeted by an empty living room, save for the glowing Christmas tree, and Jughead's well-used duffle, along with a trail of clothes leading to the closed bedroom door. 

  
She smiled and snuck back out, locking the door behind her. The next day, she sent Betty a text:  _ Tell Jughead welcome home X. _


End file.
